Sermon: Children of the Free Woman Galatians 4:21-31
Truth Taught- Christians are children of Sarah and not children of Hagar the slave.
Introduction
New Testament scholars suggest that this section of Galatians is Paul’s response to the Judaizer’s teaching that the Gentile Christians had to also observe Jewish tradition in order to be fully saved and included into the family of God.
We see here that a typical argument the false teachers may have used to convince the new Christians why that conversion to Judaism was necessary for them.
Their teaching had truth attached to it but was overall fallacious.
The argument is the contrast between Sarah (the free woman) and Hagar (the slave).
The probable argument which was often used by the Jews would go something like this…
Hagar had Ishmael who was not the son of promise but the son of the flesh. Abraham was Ishmael’s father but Ishmael was not the son of promise. Ishmael would go on to be the father of a great nation but the nation was the Arabs…Gentiles.
Sarah would give birth to the son of promise, Isaac. It would be Isaac that would be the father of a great nation, the Jews. The Judaizers conclude that God’s Promise would come through the Jewish people. In this they were correct. However, being a son of Abraham and receiving the Promise did not come about because one was Jewish. To receive the Promise of God which we know to be the Promise of the Savior Jesus Christ did not come because one could trace his lineage to Abraham even if that lineage also went through Isaac. It was Jesus who would be able to trace His lineage back through Isaac and He is the Son of Promise. So, being Jewish has nothing to do with being a child of God. Being a child of God has everything to do with sharing not in Abraham’s lineage but sharing Abraham’s faith. The Galatians had already believed.
One can see why the Galatians could be persuaded by this type of argument. Yet, to force Gentiles to become Jews, first, is not possible and second is a works salvation.
This is the background behind what Paul teaches us today…
Please Stand
Galatians 4:21–31 (ESV)
21 Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not listen to the law? 22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and one by a free woman. 23 But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, while the son of the free woman was born through promise. 24 Now this may be interpreted allegorically: these women are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; she is Hagar. 25 Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia; she corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. 26 But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. 27 For it is written,
“Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear;
break forth and cry aloud, you who are not in labor!
For the children of the desolate one will be more
than those of the one who has a husband.”
28 Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise. 29 But just as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so also it is now. 30 But what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman.” 31 So, brothers, we are not children of the slave but of the free woman.
1. The Apostolic Interrogation (4:21)
21 Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not listen to the law?
Here is Paul’s apostolic interrogation. This will be his last attempt to seek to bring the Galatians back from the dangerous direction they are taking.
He addresses them as who desire to be under the law. They are about to enter into bondage and slavery and forfeit what God has done for them. This is the direction they are heading.
It seems that the Apostle is now also seeking to convert the Jews who were trying to lead the Galatians astray. When he addresses you who desire to be under the law . Could it be that this letter not only brought the Galatians back to the true Gospel but even converted some of the Judaizers?
He tells them all, okay lets listen to what the Law of God says… do you not listen to the law?
Do you even know what the Law says? Here, Paul is speaking as Jesus spoke to the Pharisees and Scribes on a few occasions…Have you never read???
2. The Old Testament Background (4:22-23)
22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and one by a free woman. 23 But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, while the son of the free woman was born through promise.
There was a common misguided interpretation of what it means to be Abraham’s son. Jesus addressed this with the Jews who were imagining that they were right with God because they were of Abraham’s lineage.
John 8:31–44 (ESV)
31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 33 They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?”
34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. 35 The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. 37 I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you. 38 I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.”
39 They answered him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, 40 but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. 41 You are doing the works your father did.” They said to him, “We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father—even God.” 42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. 43 Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. 44 You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
Not only does being a descendant of Abraham not make you a child of God but it doesn’t keep you from being a child of the devil.
Paul introduces the beginning of his teaching here.
Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and one by a free woman.
Abraham had two sons that come into play as far as the covenant of God is concerned. One son by the slave woman, Hagar and the other by the free woman, Sarah.
23 But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, while the son of the free woman was born through promise.
Ishmael, was the son of the flesh meaning that Abraham and Sarah had taken matters into their own hands and sought to help God out with His promise. They were acting in disobedience.
Isaac was the son God had promised. It was through Isaac not Ishmael God’s Promise would extend throughout the generations.
The problem was and is with the Jew’s interpretation of the Promise. God did not say that Abraham’s offspring would be saved simply because they were in Abraham’s line but rather through Abraham’s line would come the Offspring, Jesus the Messiah. Faith is the requirement to be entered into Abraham’s family, not physical lineage.
So, the reality was that the Gentile Galatian believers were more closely related to Abraham than any of the Judaizers who thought they were in because of their lineage and tradition of Judaism.
3. Paul’s Point by Means of Allegory (4:24-27)
24 Now this may be interpreted allegorically: these women are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; she is Hagar. 25 Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia; she corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her
children. 26 But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. 27 For it is written,
“Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear;
break forth and cry aloud, you who are not in labor!
For the children of the desolate one will be more
than those of the one who has a husband.”
Allegory is when you say something but mean something else or there is a fuller meaning in what you have said. Paul is going to give us the Divine interpretation of what the Sarah and Hagar account really means. He does so by making a series of comparisons and contrasts.
Five sets of twos…
Two mothers
Two sons
Two covenants
Two mountains
Two Cities
Two mothers, Hagar and Sarah stand for two covenants one from Mount Sinai and capable of bearing children destined only to be slaves; the other, the covenant of grace sealed in the blood of Christ, the only foundation for real freedom and release from sin and death.
24 Now this may be interpreted allegorically: these women are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; she is Hagar.
Even though Hagar, the slave, had Abraham’s son, Ismael, the son of slavery, his birth according to the flesh, was not the son of promise and would represent all who would remain enslaved by the Law of God given on Mount Sinai.
25 Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia; she corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children.
Hagar the slave, Ishmael also a slave, The Law, the Old Covenant from Mount Sinai which enslaves, earthly Jerusalem which was cursed and all who seek to be under the Law are also slaves.
Sarah, the free woman, gave birth to Isaac, the son of promise which represented freedom in the New Covenant not given at Mount Sinai but came to us from Mount Zion and represents not the earthly Jerusalem but the heavenly Jerusalem.
This interpretation is God’s interpretation not the Jewish traditional interpretation which was wrong. This would have caused all Jews to cringe and potentially made the Judaizers rethink their Scripture interpretation.
The Galatians were sons of promise by faith they were free from their former slavery.
27 For it is written,
“Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear;
break forth and cry aloud, you who are not in labor!
For the children of the desolate one will be more
than those of the one who has a husband.”
Here, Paul quotes from Isaiah 54. The event in Isaiah is the picture of a barren older lady sitting at the entrance of Jerusalem. She is grieving because she has no children and her husband has been taken away into captivity. This is the image of all who seek to be justified in their own efforts.
In Isaiah 54, God does something. He speaks and she believes. God tells her to begin rejoicing because through His power, children will be given to her. So, the barren began to rejoice because of the promise of God. She would go from barren to fruitful from despair to joy. She will rejoice, sing and shout for joy.
Later in that Chapter of Isaiah listen to what God says…
Isaiah 54:5 (ESV)
5 For your Maker is your husband,
the Lord of hosts is his name;
and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer,
the God of the whole earth he is called.
God did a wonderful work and the only explanation is He alone made her fruitful all she could do is sit and mourn.
Paul was showing the Galatians and us that God has set them free from their slavery and mourning. God has justified them by faith.
4. Paul’s Application to the Galatians and Us (4:28-31)
28 Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise. 29 But just as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so also it is now. 30 But what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman.” 31 So, brothers, we are not children of the slave but of the free woman.
Let’s not miss this…Paul is still calling the Galatians, brothers. They need his correction and exhortation. Here he gives them the answer to their being misled by the Judaizers.
He is very emphatic here…You brothers are children of promise. You, not them.
He goes on to explain how things typically work. The descendants of Ishmael often have persecuted the descendants of Isaac, so too are the Judaizers descendants of Ishmael persecuting the Christians who are the descendants of Isaac.
The Ishmaelites have always persecuted and troubled Christians.
Luther wrote…
As soon as the Word of God appears, the devil becomes angry; and in his anger he employs every power and wile to persecute it and wipe it out completely. Therefore it cannot be otherwise than that he should stir up endless sects and offenses, persecution and slaughter, for he is the father of lies and a murderer (John 8:44); he plants his lies in the world through false teachers, and he murders men through tyrants…if does not want to endure persecution from Ishmael, let him not claim that he is a Christian.
What is the answer?
30 But what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman.”
The answer to the problem of false teachers…Cast them out of the church. Remove them, get them out. Make them leave and tell them to never come back…ever!!
They are son of the slave woman not sons of the free woman. They will never inherit the blessing because they will never come to faith in Christ. They will only ever be trouble and the longer you wait, the more false teaching the Church is exposed to.
31 So, brothers, we are not children of the slave but of the free woman.
Slavery to the Law and freedom through Jesus Christ cannot coexist.
Conclusion
We must understand that the Gospel of free grace and the false teaching of salvation of works cannot coexist within the same church. We must safeguard that only the true Gospel which is Christ alone through faith alone by God’s grace alone and no works.
John Calvin was preaching through Galatians in 1557 and made the point when referring to the Judaizers seeking to add to what Jesus has so wonderfully purchased for us and said that Christ is not half a Saviour but He is the Saviour
I pray we embrace Jesus Christ as Savior.
